Century Aluminum posts slimmer 4Q loss as sales climb
Century Aluminum Co. on Tuesday posted a slimmer fourth-quarter loss as sales rose 45 percent on stronger aluminium prices.
The company's loss totaled $119.1 million, or $3.67 per share, compared with a loss of $148.7 million, or $4.62 per share, a year earlier. The recent quarter included $5.37 per basic share in charges related to losses on adjustments to forward contracts, while the year-ago quarter included $5.12 per share in similar charges.
Before the losses on forward contracts and early debt retirement, operating income rose to $82.4 million from $24.9 million.
Sales climbed to $424.4 million from $292.9 million in the prior-year period.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of $1.62 per share on sales of $415.8 million. Analysts typically exclude one-time items.
Century shipped 288.9 million pounds of aluminium in the fourth quarter, down 1 percent from the prior year, but the price per pound jumped to $1.12 from 88 cents in the 2005 quarter.
Century's full-year loss narrowed to $41 million, or $1.26 per share, from $116.3 million, or $3.62 per share, in 2005. Annual sales grew to $1.56 billion from $1.13 billion.
Century shares fell 54 cents to $48.06 in aftermarket activity after finishing up 86 cents to close at $48.60 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
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